


Children Should Be Seen, Not Heard

by Llama1412



Series: Found Family Plottiness [2]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Episode Related, Episode: s01e07 Before a Fall, Gen, Minor Character Death, Spy Ciri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24192355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412
Summary: Ciri has little interest in the minutiae of running a kingdom. But her interests in history, language, geography, and other skills can serve Cintra in another way. After all, every Queen needs a Spymaster.
Relationships: Calanthe Fiona Riannon & Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon
Series: Found Family Plottiness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676068
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54
Collections: Banned Banned Together Bingo 2020, Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Children Should Be Seen, Not Heard

**Author's Note:**

> This fic refers to a few characters that I originally established in Chapter 4 of [Tales of Cintra.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23392294/chapters/56056666). No knowledge of that fic is required.  
> Marzanna is what I named the woman dressed in court finery who shadows Calanthe in Ep 4. Her grandniece is an OC but she and Ciri crush on each other.
> 
> For the Banned Together Bingo prompt Spying.

Calanthe realized from a young age that Ciri did not have the will to rule. Oh, Cirilla would try her best, but her interests lay in other areas – fighting, histories, dancing. These were useful skills in Court, but Ciri had no interest in ruling.

That was fine. Calanthe could arrange a good match for Ciri, start negotiations early, so she could ensure Ciri’s husband would be a good king for Cintra. But for Ciri – well, if her interests ran in those directions, Calanthe could work with that.

When Ciri was eight, Calanthe took her aside. “Ciri, child, do you know what Marzanna’s job is?” The woman in question was standing just inside the doorway, waiting patiently for her Queen to need her.

Ciri’s forehead wrinkled. “She’s your Lady’s Maid?” The girl hazarded. “She tends to your needs.”

“Well, yes,” Calanthe smiled down at her granddaughter, all that she had left of Pavetta, “but more importantly, Marzanna is my Spymaster. Do you know what that means?”

Ciri blinked, “Spymaster? But Lena said–”

“I will be telling my grandniece,” Marzana spoke up. “I will be training the two of you together.” Calanthe nodded. She was concerned about the two girls’ obvious affection for each other, but if nothing else, training as spies together should teach them discretion. 

“Seriously?” Ciri looked up at Marzanna dubiously. “You’re a spy?”

Marzanna smiled coyly at her. “Why, what do you think a spy looks like?”

“Uh–” Ciri stammered. “Well, I mean, you’re always at Grandmother’s side, though! How can you be off spying if you’re also Grandmother’s Lady Maid?”

Calanthe laughed. She’d been told her laugh sounded mean, but Ciri was used to it. “Dear child, all good spies have a cover. What’s the point of a spy who everyone knows is a spy? Though we do have some of those as well. They make good distractions.”

Ciri crossed her arms. “Well what does a spy do then? No offense, Lady Marzanna, but it’s not like you’re breaking into enemy strongholds and assassinating people.” She looked suddenly uncertain. “Are you?”

Marzanna laughed. “No, Princess, I’m afraid those days are far behind me.” 

Ciri opened her mouth to ask more, but Calanthe cut her off. “I’m sure you have many questions, child. We will get to them, but first I want you to understand what this conversation means. Why I called you aside.”

“Oh,” Ciri went silent for a few moments, thinking. “You want me to become a spy. With Lena?”

“Not just a spy, Ciri,” Calanthe met her eyes and tried to impress the seriousness of the situation upon her. “You will become Spymaster one day, Ciri. You will rule Cintra with your king, and you will run Cintra’s spy ring. Do you understand?”

“I...think so?” Ciri’s answer didn’t inspire the confidence Calanthe was hoping for, but it was a start. “But what does it actually mean, to be a spy for Cintra?”

“Excellent question,” Marzanna said. “A spy’s primary purpose is to gather information, especially that which others do not want the Crown to know. The reason we start training at this age is because children are near-invisible in the right circumstances.”

Ciri nodded, “Children should be seen, not heard.” She repeated the mantra she’d heard many times from nobles in Court and Calanthe wanted to skin them all for the annoyance she could see in the set of Ciri’s shoulders. “So, what, since people don’t want me to talk, I should just listen to them? See if they know anything useful? Sounds boring.”

“Spying is not the glamorous adventure that your Uncle Julian’s fairy tales may make it seem like,” Calanthe said. “There is a very real danger in it. People have been killed for much less than eavesdropping on the wrong information. That is why you must be trained.” Calanthe put her hands on Ciri’s shoulders. “I will not risk your safety, Ciri. But being Spymaster is not just about understanding the role of a spy. You will need to understand languages, histories, geography, and more.” She brushed Ciri’s hair back from her forehead. “I have chosen you for this because I know you like these things. But it must still be your choice. Do you understand?”

Ciri nodded.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” Calanthe continued. “I want you to work with Marzanna for at least a week. Attend your lessons and decide if this is right for you.” 

“With Lena, right?” Ciri asked. The girl’s best friend was in many of her lessons, along with several other children of courtesans. But these would be separate lessons, secret lessons.

“Yes, with Lena. I believe she will serve you well,” Calanthe’s face did not betray her uncertainty. How could she trust Ciri’s safety to another? Even if both Eist and Julian insisted that Lena and Ciri adored each other and that Lena would never do anything to harm her.

Calanthe cupped Ciri’s cheeks and forced their eyes to meet. “Ciri, you must understand that these lessons must be absolutely secret. Marzanna is so effective _because_ no one suspects her of being anything but a Lady’s Maid. Likewise, you must be seen simply as the Princess. Do you understand?”

Ciri nodded against her hands. “You keep asking me that. I get it already – spies are secret and I’m gonna be one. Cool!”

Perhaps eight years old was a big young for this. But Calanthe had faith in her granddaughter. 

––

Years later, Ciri put her skills to good use. The moment she traded her mother’s ring for gloves, she had known that she would be doing this.

It still hurt, letting go of the one piece of her family she had left. 

But she would get it back. She may have only received five years of training, but just last season, her grandparents had tested her by having her break into Clan an Craite’s stronghold in Skellige without getting caught. 

She’d passed with flying colors. For someone with bright hair, she’d always found it remarkably easy to go unnoticed. 

She snuck back into the village, back to the tradesman's store. Ciri would have to be careful – she didn’t know whether he might be inside or not. But she refused to relinquish her mother’s ring.

Who would have thought that the one she lost earliest was the only one she had a momento for. She wished she had something of her grandparents’, something of Lena and Marzanna and all the others who had been lost. 

Ciri’s world had fallen apart, but her grandmother had taught her to survive. Now more than ever, she had to lean on her training as she tried to find her Destiny. 

The lock clicked open and Ciri slipped in, her hood pulled up high. Ideally, she would have worn darker clothing, but her clothes and all her possessions were just more things she had lost. 

She squinted in the darkness and then crept forward, looking for somewhere someone might keep their valuables. She began her search.

After she came up empty for the third time, she got careless. She realized her mistake when she was blinded by a suddenly lit candle. When she could see again, the tradesman held a lantern in one hand and a blade in the other, it’s tip pointed at her.

Ciri froze as time seemed to move slower and all she could hear was her breathing. She could not get caught. But she also couldn’t lose the _one_ thing she had.

There was only one option. She tried to tell herself later that she’d made a conscious choice to take that step. But the reality was, she didn’t make a decision so much as move on instinct. 

She felt like she was lagging just a beat or two behind her body, watching as things occurred and unable to _do_ anything.

When the tradesman’s grip on his blade wavered, her body had _moved._ She disarmed him with a sharp jab to the wrist and caught the knife, flipping it and thrusting forward.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. That was all it took to end a man’s life. His body slid off her blade with an awful squelch and she shuddered and gagged.

Ciri had just killed someone. She knew she might possibly have killed someone on that nightmare night, but this was completely different. This was blood dripping down her blade, staining her hands. 

She dropped the knife with a whimper and backed herself against the wall. There was a cloth nearby, and she scrubbed at the blood on her hands. She didn’t want to be in this reality where everything around her was drenched in blood anymore. She wanted the world to start making sense again.

Ciri wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she came back to herself, curled up against the wall. She rubbed her arms, trying to generate some warmth. The store hadn’t changed around her – the lantern still burned where it had been dropped, illuminating the tradesman’s body. Ciri swallowed heavily, but she had come here with a purpose. She needed to find her mother’s ring.

She skirted around the body and went to search the shelves behind him. He had a lot of supplies she could use, Ciri noticed. Dried meats and hard cheeses and scented bars of soap would be so useful. 

It wasn’t as if the tradesman would be able to use it. Why let it go to waste?

Ciri shoved down the part of her that shrieked with guilt and grabbed a bag to store things in. Her grandmother had taught her that the most important thing in life was to survive. That’s all Ciri was trying to do.

Stepping carefully over the bloodstain, Ciri used a cloth to wipe off the knife. She would need a blade, and as awful as the circumstances for obtaining it were, Ciri also knew that the weapon had saved her life. Even if the tradesman wouldn’t have dealt with her himself, he would have turned her into the authorities and it would just be a matter of time before Nilfgaard captured her then.

If only the man had any clothes in her size. She would simply have to make do.

When Ciri finally found her mother’s ring, she felt like crying. There had been some part of her that had been so scared it would be lost forever, that without it she would forget all those she loved. She didn’t usually wear the ring – it was a little too large for her – but right now, she needed the reminder. Ciri slipped the silver ring over her thumb, turning it so the stone faced her palm.

She took a final look around the room, then picked up the sack filled with everything she could fit and walked out.

Ciri had a Destiny to find.


End file.
